This brief essay is to expound upon Talismanic Magick in a manner that will be of assistance for all of those who wish to employ this device, as well as for those who wish only to defend themselves from any predatory forces that would use this powerful form of enchantment to subvert their most sacred True Will from its course.
There is but little left unsaid of the concise Principles of this High Magical Art in the estimable volume Thelemic Magick written by To Mega Therion, and sincere students are referred to this book for further study.
To begin, let us define the Talisman not so very differently from its dictionary definition: a consecrated object endowed with Magick power. To the materialist, arguing 'How can these silly hieroglyphs hurt me', talismans are ineffectual charms and trifling hexes to ward off 'evil', and nothing a modern thinker like himself need bother about. However, this Magick being the Art and Science of causing changes in the universe in accordance with the will, one can begin to understand that to stroll through the common marketplace in any city in the world one cannot help but to stumble across innumerable such Talismans tugging at one from all directions. It is the unenviable fate of the ignorant that their lives are governed by these outside forces, which vie for his vital lifeforce like jackals over a carcass. Even thus, is it the Duty of every free man and woman to free his will from the influence of all outside forces in the task of discovering his True Will. Even so, Mastery of this Art will grant him supreme power over his environment. Our materialist may now understand that by these definitions he has ruled or been ruled by such Talismans all his life.
Given any particular goal, Talismanic Magick can indeed accomplish anything,
provided the Magician observe its principles:
To accomplish the Magician's goal,
Advertisements are certainly an obvious sort of the Magick present in this author's country. Television has been the central arena in the battle for the American dollar, and all manner of illusions pour continuously from this mighty Talisman. As technology marches with ever-increasing speed, great powers clash over the rights to censor the arising form of electronic communication, in which one-to-one communication challenges the dominance of the one-to-many form of broadcast media, which is understandably easier for a centralized power to regulate. This war presents an excellent example of Talismanic Magick, as well as an example of the dangers present to those who know nothing of the practice of Talismanic Self-Defense. On one hand, a powerful lobbying group (that is, a body of Magicians who have established a Magical Link with the leaders of the nation) are striving for the ability to regulate what 'ought' and 'ought not' to be transmittable from one person to another, as they presently have over broadcast television, the one-to-many form of media. In the terms of our Art, these Talismanic Magicians (officials of evangelical institutions, Christian 'decency' groups, even secular 'morality' advocates) are attempting to have a hand in the manufacture of the Talisman of the Internet to ensure, when it comes to maturity as a great power, that it serves their ends by observing the First Law of Talismanic Magick. What is truly at issue here is that throughout Western history, the Christian church has been relied upon by the common man to make most of his important decisions for him because he has been told from his infancy that he is too simple to be allowed to make these choices for himself. The priests select what he can read, talk about, hear, and say, so that he can be assured he wouldn't think the wrong thoughts. When human dignity finally rebelled against this insult, the Christian church allied itself with certain governmental powers, which combining secular law with domination of the human mind and spirit, threatening persecution and torment for the transgressors against their restrictions both here and hereafter.
Novice Magicians are therefore alerted to heed this example:
1 & 3) Christists could not fit enough people into the churches to achieve the
kind of domination they wanted - the walls would split.
Thus they acquired a transmitter, and extended the rows of church pews into living
rooms around the world. As televisions became obsolete, computers are adopted,
expanding the variety of propaganda available to suit the tastes of the most
finicky of sheep.
2 & 4) The airwaves are being abandoned for the fiber optic cable as the dominant
medium of communication. Thus the Church-State power block must alter its
Talisman
of mind control.
5) In order to achieve total domination of the mind and spirit, bells ring daily
from the church towers as constant reminders of the threats made from the pulpit.
Where the teachings of Mohammed dominate, the Moslems' muezzin call from the
minarets five times daily - and arguably have five times the power over their
converts. However, Christist television evangelists in effect never leave their
pulpit, and for those for whom the responsibility of free thought is too
terrifying, there is no reason for them to turn off the tv at all. Every good
advertising agent knows this axiom of Talismanic Magick: repetition is the key to
the subconscious.
One can learn much from observing grand, sweeping acts of Talismanic Magick, by which our entire world is shaped. By their scale, their anatomies are exposed, as though with a microscope.
Upon temples built by the ancient Egyptians are many images of gods, their faces now obliterated by the Roman Christians during their crusades. If they truly despised idolatry, as they claim, why stop there? Why not smash the entire image, the entire temple, for that matter, into rubble? However, to do so would be to waste the repository of tremendous Talismanic power, which redirected to their cause, serves as yet another reminder of their conquest of the native beliefs.
The wandering Buddhist ascetic is likewise an ever present reminder of the domination of that sect in some oriental countries. On every street corner, a reminder to the weak to abandon the sorrows of the flesh for the peace of a monk's life. More harmless than warriors, these monks were allowed to perpetuate their creeds by the governmental powers, who naturally prefer temples to rebellion. Confucianism is likewise agreeable to the designs of the government (if not the governed), for it espouses toil as a virtue and condemns ambition as a vice. In such lands, the status quo remains unchallenged, and the flower of the evolution of Man is choked.
As is often the case, many of these Talismanic enchantments have no single identifiable source, and no one human author. This apparent impersonality does nothing to lessen the force of their power. Indeed, the nature of these manipulators of human events is revealed to initiates of the O.T.O.
This, then, truly is the virtue of the vandal - that he blots out the idol of the ancient powers that have ceased to serve man, and to whom man has become enslaved.
We of Thelema defy the assumption that Mankind is too stupid to look out for
himself. On the contrary, we declare that if free, Mankind will produce a Child
evolved quite beyond that which we are now. As it is written:
I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men.
Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
With my Hawk's head I peck out the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.
I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him.
With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din.
Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.
Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels: for her sake let all chaste women be utterly despised among you!
Also for beauty's sake and love's.
For Liber Al is our supreme Talisman, from which emminates a way of freedom not yet fully manifested, as the secrets of this sublime writing have yet to be fully unlocked by man.